DINOFLAGELLATES

• Sexual means of reproduction in Dinoflagellates can occur through isogamy or anisogamy
• Common means of reproduction for Dinoflagellates is by asexual method through simple binary fission
• Some bloom-forming species of Dinoflagellates have the capacity to encyst under unfavorable conditions
• Dinoflagellates


  • Unicellular protists with biflagellated vegetative cells; flagella are different from one another in terms of form, orientation, and type of movement; vegetative cells are enclosed by a cell covering consisting mostly of cellulose material
• Representative Dinoflagellate species

  • Pyrodinium bahamense
  • Prorocentrum
  • Ceratium
• The form of the cyst in Dinoflagellates is very different from the vegetative cell and is considered a taxonomic character
• During warm months of summer

  Dinoflagellates may reproduce greatly, causing water to appear golden or red, known as "red tide"
• Neurotoxins produced by dinoflagellates


  Harm marine life such as fishes, shellfish, clams, mussels, and oysters, affecting consumers
• Diatoms are classified under the division Chrysophyta and Bacillariophyceae
• Diatoms

  Cell walls called frustules or shell, mostly made up of silica, consisting of two overlapping halves that fit together; ornamentations in wall structures and symmetry are taxonomic characters
• Representative Diatom species

  • Not provided
• Diatoms can have radial symmetry or bilateral symmetry


  Radial symmetry groups them into centric diatoms, while bilateral symmetry groups them into pennate diatoms